Happy Tail: A red heeler will soon meet a new buddy

Courtney Reynolds was living in the dorms at Mississippi State University when she saw Walker, a black-and-tan Coonhound, listed on Petfinder by Oktibbeha County Humane Society in Starkville, MS. Her heart went out to him, and her dad, who lived nearby, agreed to keep him until Courtney returned to her home in Illinois, where Walker settled into life with Courtney’s mom.

Fall approached, and it was time for Courtney to return to school. Even though she would no longer be living in a dorm, she decided not to uproot Walker, who was happy as a clam on his two acres in Illinois. But once back in Mississipi, she missed him.

If she was left with any doubts, they were put aside when she met Callie. “I instantly fell in love with her,” Courtney says. “She was very shy and timid, but the look she had was that she just wanted to please if given the chance.”

Once in her new home, Callie’s personality emerged. She “started running around with her back legs passing her front as she bolted across the yard.”

Besides being quite a runner, she “is a bit of goof 100% of the time,” says Courtney “Whenever we go to the dog park … she will go to the middle of the yard and crouch down waiting for another dog to come near, then she’ll pounce, chasing them all around the park.”

She’s not a noisy dog, but Courtney says Callie does like to talk back when she doesn’t get her way. “She’ll sit there and look at you until you say something, then she’ll pause and let out a slight bark/grumble and keep doing it till you go to her and give her a little bit of love and attention.

“She loves her toys and . . . can’t just have one, she has to have them all to the point that she will have a ball and rope toy in her mouth at the same time.”

Now Courtney is waiting for winter break so she can return to Illinois to introduce Callie and Walker. She’s so pleased with both these dogs that it seems inevitable to her that they’ll turn into best buds.